Chapter 41: INVESTMENT

"HYUNG, what happened to Lee Eunsang?" "Is he okay? Are you okay, Hyung?" "Finn, Jigu-ya, don’t worry," Garam assured his younger group members. "Both Eunsang and I are fine. Well, Eunsang isn’t totally fine, but he’s out of danger now." The kids didn’t look satisfied with his explanation. Hence, he had no choice but to elaborate. The VIP Room was a safe place anyway since aside from them, only Shin Junho and Shin Geon were there. Thankfully, the doctors have just finished checking on Eunsang before the kids arrived. "Oh Hyunju kidnapped Lee Eunsang and drugged him." "That fucking bastard!" It was Finn who cursed in English. Woah. I’ve practically raised Finn, but this is the first time I’ve seen the kid this mad. But Garam wouldn’t say he was shocked by Finn’s reaction. Finn and Eunsang bicker all the time, but since they’re the two youngest in the group, they actually care about each other a lot. So, he wasn’t surprised when Finn immediately ran to Lee Eunsang’s side. Still cursing Oh Hyunju under his breath in a language that I don’t understand. Was it German? Norwegian? It was definitely not English, though. "Hyung, we should report it to the police." "Jigu-ya..." "Hyung, I know that if we report Oh Hyunju, our group will suffer a lot from the controversy," Kwon Jigu said, his jaw clenched. This kid was nicknamed ’teddy bear’ by the fans because, despite his huge build, he was actually gentle. However, this time, Kwon Jigu looked like a bear who could and would kill you with his bare hands. "But I can’t think straight. I’m so angry that I want to kill the bastard who did that to Lee Eunsang." Aigoo. This kid will probably lose his mind if I tell him that I found Lee Eunsang in a club. "Jigu-ya, I understand how you’re feeling. But we can’t call the police." "But Hyung—" "I’ll make sure Oh Hyunju will still get punished," Garam assured Kwon Jigu while patting the kid’s shoulder. "Jigu-ya, trust me." "I want to trust you, Hyung. But I feel like you’re keeping a lot of secrets from us." Oh. "You can’t even tell us who hit you." Right. Garam left the dorm to hide his busted lips from his group members, but he couldn’t hide from them for long since he invited the kids to dinner. His dongsaengs tried to ask him what happened, but he just brushed it off. "I’m sorry, Jigu-ya. I just don’t want you to worry unnecessarily when things have already been resolved quietly..." "I don’t want an apology from you, Hyung. And I also know that whatever you do, you do it to protect us," Kwon Jigu said, his voice frustrated. "But I’d like it if you depend on us. We’re a team, aren’t we?" Aigoo. How can I leave now? "Garam Hyung, can you really punish that bastard who did this to Lee Eunsang even without the help of the police?" "Yes, and I can assure you that Oh Hyunju’s punishment will be worse than being reported to the police." "Then go, Hyung," Finn said in a very serious voice. "You need to go and take care of this mess, don’t you?" As expected, this kid is sharp. "Finn..." Kwon Jigu said, obviously confused and irritated. "Is this really right?" "Let me deal with this first, kids," Garam assured his team members, especially Kwon Jigu. "Let’s revisit this later." *** "SONG SIHYUK-nim, are you really going to pay those kids’ debt?" "Are you deaf? I hate repeating myself, you know?" "The total cost of the kids’ combined debts is 1.9 billion won, sir. Each one of them has at least 250 million won in debt." "Do I look like I don’t have that kind of money?" "Of course not, sir. I know a few billion won is just change to you, but those kids have nothing to do with you. Pardon me, but I don’t think you’re that good-hearted of a person to be paying other people’s debts. In fact, I don’t think you’re capable of empathy." Pfft. Song Sihyuk took a sip of his vodka. After Lim Garam and Jung Han left, the general manager of the club escorted Song Sihyuk to a VIP Room. Then the son of the owner came and asked him what happened. Jung Han wasn’t there to explain, so he left the explanation to Lee Chan— Song Sihyuk’s ’left-hand man.’ Basically, his assistant when Jung Han was absent. Yes, I have a mouth— but I can’t be bothered explaining my actions. Anyway, the bastard who had the guts to talk to him that way was Jin Taejoon— the son of Jin Sangwook, the notorious ’loan shark king.’ And Jin Sangwook owned Club Eterno. Yes, a gangster owned that infamous gentlemen’s club for the elite. It’s because Jin Sangwook isn’t an ordinary loan shark— he actually has ties to the chaebols. Heck, he even helped some of the quasi-chaebols reach their current status. In fact, Jin Sangwook even had connections to the Ilsung Group. "I’ll pay in cash," Song Sihyuk said after drinking up his glass of vodka. "Hand over those kids’ contracts to me." Yeah, the victims there were actually debtors who couldn’t pay anymore. Well, to be precise, those poor kids were victims. Some of them were sold by their own parents to Jin Sangwook to pay off their debts, while the others were rookie celebrities sold to the club by their companies. "Are you sure, sir?" "Jin Taejoon, didn’t I already tell you that I hate repeating myself?" Song Sihyuk sighed, getting annoyed once again. He calmed down earlier because that room wasn’t filled with pheromones. But that didn’t erase his nasty temper. "I heard you have a more competent half-brother. Maybe that kid will be easier to negotiate with." As expected, Jin Taejoon’s face instantly darkened. Pfft. My sources are right— this motherfucker has an inferiority complex towards his younger and more competent half-brother. Of course, Song Sihyuk knew who he was dealing with. He may not be a member of Club Eterno, but he knew people who were. And most of them are my enemies, so I keep an eye on this place to find out their weaknesses. Naturally, he also found out Jin Taejoon’s weakness— his competent half-brother. "Did I hit a nerve, Jin Taejoon?" Jin Taejoon ignored Song Sihyuk’s question as he stood up, obviously angry but couldn’t lash out at the heir of the SG Group. "I’ll be back, sir," Jin Taejoon said through clenched teeth. "Please wait here." Song Sihyuk laughed out loud when the gangster left the room with heavy footsteps. It looked like he hit a nerve when he brought up Jin Taejoon’s half-brother. This is why being an only child is the best. "President Song, Han Hyung-nim sent a message," Lee Chan said politely. "He’s on his way here with Dr. Seong Kyungmin." Tsk. Song Sihyuk only asked Jung Han to fetch him some suppressants from Seong Kyungmin— he didn’t ask to bring the doctor with him. But he just knew it was his friend who insisted on coming. Kyungmin will just nag at me again. "President Song, can I say something that might make you upset?" Aigooya. Why did I forget that Lee Chan, unlike Jung Han, who just lets me do whatever I want, is strict? "What is it?" "Won’t you reconsider paying the debts of those strangers, sir?" Lee Chan asked. His voice sounded indifferent, but Song Sihyuk could tell that his ’left-hand man’ was deeply concerned. "I understand that losing 1.9 billion won’t even put a dent in your wealth. But it feels like a waste to use them to pay off strangers’ debt. I’d rather you donate that huge amount of money to charity and gain some brownie points from the general public than do this." "This is for my wife." "There are other ways to help those people, sir," Lee Chan said. "Moreover, Lim Garam-nim is a good person. I’m sure he’ll feel bad that you’re spending that much money just because he asked you to help those people." "Exactly." "Excuse me?" "Lim Garam has become more successful than I expected. I don’t want him to feel that he doesn’t need me anymore, so he has to be in debt to me once again," Song Sihyuk said in a serious tone. "I’m setting those kids free from their debts as an investment. 1.9 billion won is nothing if it means Lim Garam can’t run away from me. Having said that, I’m still planning to get my return on investment." "In what way, sir?" "All those kids are pretty good-looking since most of them are rookie celebrities. I’ll make them sign with Lim Garam’s agency. It’s time for Myung Hyesu to form and debut a new boy group since Lim Garam’s group is about to disband." He did buy the agency for Lim Garam. But it was a pretty good source of passive income since Lim Garam’s group was successful and was able to bring in money to the company. I got my initial investment back and even earned profits. Hence, Song Sihyuk decided to keep the agency instead of selling it once Lim Garam’s group disbanded. "Sir, is Lim Garam-nim’s group disbanding soon?" "Yeah." "May I know why, sir?" Lee Chan asked curiously. "Their group is doing pretty well, isn’t it?" Song Sihyuk scoffed. "A chaebol’s wife doesn’t need to be a celebrity." *** WHEN GARAM returned to the club, he was ushered to a different VIP Room. To his surprise, he found Song Sihyuk almost passed out on the sofa. The Alpha was sweating bullets, and he looked really pale. "Hyung, are you alright?" As soon as Garam reached Song Sihyuk, his contract husband grabbed him and wrapped his arms around his waist. Then Song Sihyuk buried his face against his stomach. "Hyung...?" "It hurts, Garam-ah." "Where are you hurt?" "My crotch," Song Sihyuk said, lifting his head. The Alpha still looked sick, but the playfulness in his eyes was clear. "I’m hard, Garam-ah." Garam took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. This horny dog... *** Please ADD <SECRETLY MARRIED TO A CHAEBOL ALPHA> to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>